1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to lubricant additives and compositions thereof and, more particularly, to lubricant compositions comprising oils of lubricating viscosity or greases prepared therefrom containing a minor friction reducing amount of certain borated mixed alcohols, amides, amines and esters.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many means have been employed to reduce overall friction in modern internal combustion engines, particularly automobile engines. The primary reasons are to reduce engine wear, thereby prolonging engine life and to reduce the amount of fuel consumed by the engine.
Many of the solutions to reducing fuel consumption have been strictly mechanical, as for example, setting the engines for a leaner burn or building smaller cars and smaller engines. However, considerable work has been done with lubricants, mineral and synthetic, to enhance their friction properties by modifying them with friction reducing additives.
Certain alcohols, mixtures of alcohols and other organic compounds have been used as intermediates in the manufacture of a variety of lubricant additives. However, the use of alcohols themselves, for example, has not been widespread as engine oil additives because of potential oxidative and thermal instability and volatility difficulties. It has now been found that certain borated mixed alcohols, amides, amines and hydroxy esters provide friction reducing characteristics that non-borated compositions lack; in addition, the borated mixed derivatives improve oxidative and thermal stability, volatility and bearing corrosion inhibiting properties. These borated mixed compositions are, to the best of applicants' knowledge, novel and have not been used as friction reducing or multifunctional additives suitable for use in lubricating compositions and in fuels such as in gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, etc. to improve fuel economy. The subject mixed borated compositions perform better than mixtures of individual borated materials, e.g., borated mixed oleyl amine and oleyl alcohol outperforms a mixture of borated oleyl alcohol and borated oleyl amine.